Thou met’st with things dying, I with things new-born. The Winter's Tale (Act 3, sc. iii), Shakespeare

In the panel above, we meet Mary Magdalene as myrrh-bearer. The 'myrrh-bearers' is a group of first century women who had various roles in the events surrounding the crucifixion, entombment and resurrection of Christ. Their most significant role is first witnesses to the resurrection. Post-crucifixion narratives vary on what roles each woman served but Mary Magdalene is pivotal in most accounts, indentified as the first witness of the resurrected Christ. During that encounter, he instructs her to notify the disciples of his return. Consequently, she is called "equal to the apostles" or "the apostle to the apostles", an extraordinary designation for a woman within the early Christian church. She is patron saint of women and her feast day is July 22.

I developed a deep connection to the fisher saint, Saint Peter, decades ago and was delighted to discover that this surviving panel from a 14th Century polyptych is companion to one of my favorite paintings of Mary Magdalene. New Testament writing tells that Christ designates Peter as "the rock" on which the church wil build its foundation. As a result, he is traditionally depicted holding one or more keys, the "keys to the kingdom". Patron saint of fishers, he is also the patron saint of those with foot problems. Saint Peter shares his feast day (June 29) with Saint Paul.